


Honor, Lust, and Pixie Dust

by katesalwaystrying



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Disney World & Disneyland, Disney World date, Employees to lovers, First Dates, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Secret Crush, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katesalwaystrying/pseuds/katesalwaystrying
Summary: The Gaang is working at Disney World for the summer, even Zuko, the son of the park director at Universal Studios. Our poor carousel operator immediately takes a liking to the funny Jungle Cruise Skipper named Sokka... the brother of his best friend's girlfriend. What happens on employee free night? A first date for the books.(I just really miss Disney World & more specifically the Jungle Cruise okay let me go)
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 184





	Honor, Lust, and Pixie Dust

Zuko’s dad would certainly kill him when he finally heard the news. Ozai never expected this.

His own son, the son of the park director at Universal Studios, has a position in the summer program for Disney World. Even Azula had gotten a job in the Wizarding World. How was he going to get away with this one?

Gripping the sides of the console in front of him, he tried to forget about his dad for half a moment. He silently prayed his email would be enough of a goodbye. Who “breaks up” with his parent in an email? Zuko, of course. That’s the only way to get his father’s attention. Make the subject line look like urgent business and he’ll get to it sooner or later. It was the only way to break the news to him without incurring his immediate wrath.

That would have to wait for the end of the summer. Disney World was worth it. He got all the free Dole Whip cups he wanted, he got paid a whole $5 more per hour than at Universal, and, oh yeah, it’s not his father’s company. He’d received enough rejection letters from them for one lifetime.

As he watched the kids spin around and around, gripping the poles and metal horses, he silently thanked God that the carousel is themed after Prince Charming now, not Cinderella. If he had to usher a princess around to get photos with the kids, his heart might have exploded (whether from shame or from love he wasn’t sure). Truth be told, he loved this job because of the kids. Zuko secretly loved them, but had no idea how to act around them. 

His first week on the job involved not one but two kids absolutely eating the sidewalk right in front of him. When he heard their screaming, he practically melted onto the floor, and not because of the Florida heat.

As the ride halted to a stop, the kids all joyfully hopped off and found their respective parents. Zuko let out a long breath. He never had any memories like that. Quickly, he offered a small smile to the girl taking over his shift. He patted down his pockets for his phone and keys before winding back through the line and out into the zoo that was 12 o’clock noon in Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom.

This all meant that he had t-minus 45 seconds until he could take off that giant purple hat.

“Those costumes aren’t honorable in the slightest.” Zuko remembered his father slamming the magazine on the table. “How can you expect your employees to command respect with a plume on their head?”

“Zuko!” His roommate waved from across the buzzing courtyard, ripping his attention away from his father’s hatred for feathers.

“Sokka!” Zuko smiled widely before catching himself. He looks so cute in those shorts. The Jungle Cruise outfits that he and Aang wore were pragmatic for the summer heat, unlike his own downright impractical puffy pants. Zuko looked like he was a waiter at the castle restaurant. He suddenly remembered the abomination of a headpiece resting on his dark hair and quickly snapped it behind his back.

“I can’t imagine having to wear that thing all day.” Sokka groaned, gesturing to the hat that Zuko was desperately trying to forget about.

“Yeah, well, you work in the shade all day.” He playfully punched Sokka’s arm, instantly regretting it. Why did you do that? Stupid, stupid! He mentally smacked his own forehead.

Sokka, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind. He only bit his lip to stifle a smile. “It’s a perk.” They stared at each other for a beat of awkward silence. “Anyway, I wanted to ask what you were doing for the employee free night tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Zuko emitted a shockingly high-pitched squeak. He cleared his throat and corrected himself with a much more honorable, deeper voice. “Oh. Uhm, well, I’m not sure. I know Aang said he and Katara were going to stay here in the Magic Kingdom for the first night at least. Why, what were you thinking?”

“Do you want to join them? With me, I mean.”

… 

Zuko couldn’t believe his ears. Did he just… ask him out?

“As, uh, as friends, of course.” Sokka scratched the back of his head. “I have to cover an hour at the end of the day but then we can bum around together.”

“Right.” Zuko nodded slowly. “As friends, right. That would be fun.”

Sokka’s face brightened noticeably. At least, it would have if it were possible for him to be even happier than he normally was. That boy was a bottle of sunshine.

“Sweet, sweet.” He pressed his lips together to suppress his excitement. “Hop on the last cruise of the day and we’ll go from there, yeah? An hour before closing. Don’t forget it!”

\- - -

Telling Ozai about his job at Disney was hard enough for one summer… but now he needs to tell his best friend’s girlfriend that he was going on a not-date-totally-a-date with her brother? Zuko clenched his eyes shut for a moment as he pulled the starting lever for the carousel. Children around him squealed with glee as he tormented himself with thoughts of Katara actually kicking his ass. It’s all he could think about for his entire shift.

Well, that and the not-date-totally-a-date. One was a daydream, the other more of a demented night terror.

Just as he was about to disappear into the crowd, he heard an all too familiar voice float through the air towards him. 

“Hey Zuko!” 

His head snapped towards her so quickly that his hat nearly slipped right off his head and into a child’s face. And he was so close to freedom, too.

“Katara…” He half waved. Her hair was completely soaked. “Long day over at Splash Mountain, huh?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” She rolled her eyes. “Hearing those animatronic bears singing isn’t exactly a fantastic start to your morning.”

“Right…” Zuko drifted, hoping she would get to the damn point. She had to know. The look in her eyes is just a little too devious for her not to. “...the whole ‘Hi Ho’ thing gets stuck in my head after a while, too… you know, it makes no sense for the dwarves to have their song playing when it’s obviously a Cinderella themed–”

“So, Sokka finally asked you out, then?” Katara casually dropped, cutting him off while merely glancing at her fingernails. Needless to say, his jaw dropped. Zuko couldn’t even manage to get a squeak out before the shift manager grabbed his elbow. 

His dark hair flopped as he turned to look at his boss and his crush both smiling far too widely at him. “See, I told you! He’s the perfect height!” Sokka’s cheery voice cut through the air. He looked a little too proud of himself, to which Katara immediately raised suspicion. The sad part? Zuko found it absolutely adorable. The way that Sokka’s blue eyes gleamed with excitement and a strange hope of the future gave Zuko butterflies.

“...do I want to know?” Katara raised an eyebrow. Zuko shot her a look. She interrupted his daydream for the second time today. And that was obviously supposed to be his line.

“Chip and Dale are nowhere to be found. We have thirty minutes until the mid-day Festival of Fantasy parade.” The shift manager sized him up. “You’re right, Sokka. He’d fit the suit perfectly. Let’s get you backstage.” She lead the group into one of the famous secret entrances to the Disney World underground.

“Excuse me!?” Zuko blurted, but quickly recalculated. More time with Sokka? Was he really prepared to turn that down? “Wait, which one am I?”

“Does it really matter?” Katara spat, slightly bemused by the boys in front of her. She was having fun trailing behind them. Sokka was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, skipping through the doorway, which was a stark contrast to the confused yet compliant Zuko.

“You’d be Dale, obviously. You have his personality.” Sokka chirped. Zuko’s heart fluttered. He wasn’t entirely sure of the difference between the two chipmunks, but Sokka cared. That’s all that mattered to him.

“It’s gonna be less than thirty minutes of your time, Zuko. You see this parade every day, don’t worry about it.” The manager held the brown bodysuit open, gesturing hastily for him to get in. “Just jump around, hug some kids, act like a happy chipmunk.” She popped his head on with a force so great that Zuko felt concussed.

If only Ozai could see him now. Azula was probably dressing up like a Death Eater or some badass Hogwarts professor right now. Zuko? A smiling, hip-hap-hoppity chipmunk.

A chorus of children’s squealing signalled that he was finally in view of the children. Zuko moved gingerly. The peripheral vision wasn’t fabulous through Dale’s eyes. He slowly moved to kneel down and dole out hugs. Zuko hovered for a moment before realizing that a lot of the children weren’t totally sure exactly who this cuddly chipmunk was, which is just fine with him. He saw the kids in a different light. They didn’t see his RBF behind the mask, just a smiling, happy chipmunk face. Truth be told, the way the sugar-filled kids viewed him didn’t matter much at all.

Right now, Chip’s opinion is all that he cared about.

He really tried to stay in line with Chip, but he didn’t quite trust himself to navigate the world through the eyes of Dale. Zuko couldn’t see that Sokka was secretly watching him the whole time. Sokka had never seen such passion or zeal in a person as he sees in Zuko wearing a chipmunk costume. 

Zuko hopped up from the side of Main Street and skipped up next to Sokka. Unfortunately, he was met with a giggling Katara, confused Toph, and a camera-armed Aang.

\- - -

“An hour before closing.” That’s what Sokka said, right?

Zuko approached the Jungle Cruise and immediately got jarred by a familiar voice over the intercom.

“Those of you adventurers entering the world-famous Jungle Cruise, please notice there are two lines. If you’d like to keep your family together, please stay in the same line.” Sokka stifled an obvious laugh. “However, if there is someone in your family you’d like to get rid of, just put them in the opposite line and you’ll never see them again.” Sokka smiled at Zuko from behind the microphone. 

“If only Azula were here…” Zuko mumbled to himself, but still couldn’t stop the laugh that came out of him. It’s obvious that Sokka is in his element here.

“Zu, come on!” He called him over with a large wave of his hand. Zuko completely ignored the disgusted looks he got from the people he was cutting in line.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Zuko furrowed his brow, yet his coy smile was still perched on his chin. 

“Your attention, please. We do not allow cutting in line here at the world-famous Jungle Cruise. Anyone caught with a pair of scissors will be asked to leave.” Sokka winked and took his hand off the intercom as Zuko turned bright red. “This one’s my last boat. Hop on in.” 

Zuko slid to the back row of cushions while Sokka helped the group of girls get situated.

“Squeeze on in, guys! I get paid for the number of people I take out… not the number I bring back!” A spark of giggles erupted from the group around him. Zuko felt a strange heat rise in his chest. Sokka didn’t know these girls, and they were just a few years too young for him, but Zuko wanted nothing more than to toss them into the water. Instead of letting it show, he stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets and tried to enjoy Sokka’s infectious attitude as the boat pulled away from the dock.

“Okay, everyone, before we go much further, everyone raise your right hand and repeat after me.” Sokka smiled as all hands went up… except one. He raised a knowing eyebrow at the shadowy figure in the back. Zuko melted after a half second and helplessly threw his hand into the air, to which Sokka smiled widely. “There we go! Now, repeat after me. ‘I hope…. we return.’ Good! Better turn and take one last look at the dock – you may never see it again!” The giggles burst for the second time out of several.

Zuko found himself fascinated by the way that the dying sun danced with the lights of the park on the small brown ponytail that flounced upwards from Sokka’s head. The other night he was so excited because he could just about tuck it into a manbun. Zuko’s favorite moments from the short experience they’ve had this summer have always involved Sokka’s laugh. Luckily, Sokka was good at his job, so Zuko got to hear his favorite sound a lot.

“If you enjoyed yourself, my name is Sokka and this has been the world famous Jungle Cruise. If you didn’t, then my name is Toph and this has been Big Thunder Mountain.” Sokka recited to the group of eternally-giddy high school girls. “Please watch your head when you leave the boat, and if you can’t watch your head, then watch your mouth.” He swung the little wheel violently to the right as the boat pulled into the dock. “Now get out! I’m sorry, that was rude. Please get out.” His hearty laugh floated into the air.

“I don’t know how you do it all day.” Zuko rose slowly, allowing everyone to leave before he swung around to steal Sokka.

“It’s all part of the job.” Sokka playfully dusts off his shoulder. “It really helps when you make bad jokes all day long anyways. This way, I get paid!”

As they prepared to disembark the now-empty boat, Zuko’s hand gently grazed Sokka’s, prompting both of their cheeks to flair up. Sokka’s skin was too soft for this life. If this world were just a little different, Zuko would have taken his hand then and there. 

In a moment of sweeping courage, he turned.

“This isn’t the smoothest way to say this…” Zuko started. Well, great. I’ve started. And he’s just staring. Now I’ve gotta finish. “I know we’ve only known each other for a short while… Uhm, when I first met you, I thought you were kinda cute… in a certain way… and I didn’t know if you felt the same way about me? Not that I’m calling myself cute, I’m not cute, I–”

He was cut off by a soft pair of lips on his.

“I think you’re very cute, Zuko. For the record.” Sokka smiled.

Zuko’s heart leapt as Sokka’s lips found his again. Suddenly, he began to understand why this was called the Happiest Place on Earth.


End file.
